Source · Select Committees · Defence Committee
Recommendation 11
11
Accepted
C-130J early retirement created significant air mobility capacity gap hampering Special Forces
Conclusion
One of the most significant cuts in the Defence Command paper was the early retirement of the C-130J Hercules fleet some seven years before its planned out-of- service date. Our witnesses were almost unanimously critical of this decision, which has significantly reduced the overall capacity of the air mobility fleet, undermined the Integrated Review’s “Global Britain” objective, and created a capability gap which could hamper Special Forces. We find it deeply unsatisfactory that the Government has sought to hide behind the cloak of secrecy which covers Special Forces to limit meaningful scrutiny of the capability decisions which will affect their operations. (Paragraph 84) 42 Aviation Procurement: Winging it?
Government Response Summary
The government acknowledges a short-term drop in air mobility capacity due to the C-130J Hercules retirement but states critical operational commitments are being met by accelerating the transfer of capability to the Atlas A400M. It offers regular updates on the Atlas A400M and F-35 programmes to the Committee.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
Aviation Procurement: Winging It?: Government Response 7 In deciding to retire the C-130J Hercules, we understood there would be short-term and temporary drop in air mobility capacity, but can reassure the Committee that all critical operational commitments have—and are—being met, and will continue to be so. As we set out in both our written and oral evidence, the Atlas A400M is a versatile aircraft carrying out a full range of air mobility tasks. Following the DCP 2021, the long-planned transfer of capability from C130 to Atlas was accelerated, and the RAF is working at pace to ensure the military effect delivered by the C130 is either replicated through A400M or delivered in a different way as soon as possible. Recent operations, including Op POLARBEAR, demonstrated the A400M’s worth: in the evacuation of Sudan, Atlas and C130 worked together, but there were no elements undertaken by C130 that could not be delivered by Atlas and, with its greater speed, power and lift capacity, Atlas was able to evacuate a significantly greater number of personnel than C130, getting them from Sudan to the agreed safe location in a safer and more timely manner. Atlas availability is improving, but remains under close and focused senior attention in the RAF and DE&S to ensure this continues. We would be happy to provide the Committee with regular updates, if the committee would find such an update useful. Given we already provide six monthly updates on the F-35 programme, we would propose to combine the two. Flying Training